RSSHow can our ad reps use Twitter?
13 Apr 2009 2 Comments
in Tools of the trade Tags: advertising, twitter
I’m, once again, appealing for advice and/or ideas about a different way to use Twitter at a newspaper. I was approached by one of our ad reps who wanted to know more about Twitter. She asked if I’d be willing to talk to all the reps about it.
My first reaction was overwhelming joy at being asked to talk about it rather than having to nag people into it 
and then I got to thinking about how to approach it with them. I can talk for ages on how Twitter can be used in the newsroom. I can also make a great case for why a business needs to be using Twitter.
But what I can’t figure out is how an advertising rep can use it to their advantage. At first, I thought I would teach them about it, and get them on it and all that good stuff, so that they can get a feel for it and perhaps pitch the use of it to their clients. And then my lovely teenage daughter brought something up I hadn’t thought about: If a business gets on Twitter and makes good use of it – and we, as a newspaper, got them to try it and use it – why would they consider continuing to spend money with us on print and banner ads?
Damn kids.
I’m stumped. So my question is, when I go to pitch Twitter to our ad reps Wednesday morning, how can I make it as useful a tool for them as it is for journalists? It requires a mode of thinking that’s almost foreign to me. I could not sell a glass of water to a dying man in the Sahara. What would an ad rep need Twitter for? Why/how would they pitch the use of it to their clients?
There’s probably some simple solution for this that I’m just not seeing, that’s why I’m turning to the Interwebz for help 
I should mention that our ad reps love Facebook and nearly all of them are on it so they kinda sorta “get” a bit of social media, but they don’t understand Twitter at all, and they need a nudge in the right direction. I want to help them, but this might be a little beyond my comfort zone. Any ideas, suggestions would be vastly appreciated!